Reader Comments and Retorts

Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.

"If the Pirates got anything resembling a prospect without paying salary, then Huntington is one heck of a GM."

FWIW, during the Dodger negotiations this winter, the Pirates were reportedly willing to pick up a big chunk of salary in exchange for better prospects. The finances really aren't the motivating factor here.

When/if healthy he's a perfectly serviceable player, he's a good fielder and as a hitter, well there's 30 MLB teams, 30 starting SS jobs, he's about the median for starting SSs- you could do a lot worse.

Speaking of worse: here are the non-Pitchers, last 10 years, 750+PAs, OPS+ under 50:
Tony Pena
Donnie Sadler

That would be funnier if Jack Wilson weren't a) a decent starter, b) the team's best shortstop by a large margin, and c) putting no significant strain on the budget.

Maybe so, but Wilson isn't that great a player - and not worth $7 million IMO. I stand by the point - Wilson ain't great shakes and the Pirates aren't doing anything, so they might as well stock up on cheap talent and not waste money on a decent player when that decent player might be the difference between losing 96 games or losing 99 games.

"Wilson ain't great shakes and the Pirates aren't doing anything, so they might as well stock up on cheap talent and not waste money on a decent player when that decent player might be the difference between losing 96 games or losing 99 games."

The problem is that the Pirates don't have any viable internal SS options. Bixler is terrible, Cruz is worse, and you have to go all the way down to A-ball before you find any prospects. Furthermore, the team already jacked up their scouting/PD investment significantly last year, by building a brand new Dominican academy, greatly increasing international spending, and signing numerous players to above-slot deals in the draft. If you take Jack's money off the payroll, there isn't going to be any good way to invest it in the future. It's either going to get plowed back into a different veteran FA (who probably is not as good for the team, given the gaping hole behind Jack at short), or it's going to sit in Nutting's wallet. If those are the choices, I'd rather keep Jack and win a few extra games, at least until a team is ready to give up actual talent in return.

Is Wilson really that much better than Ramon Santiago? Basically both good field/no hit guys. Santiago did hit really well last year in limited time. Maybe he figured something out? He walked a lot more, anyway. If you're also saving $7M for sure, I think I'd probably roll the dice on finding out.

The Tigers and Jack Wilson's agent are both denying a report that the shortstop has been traded.
The Newark Star-Ledger reported that a deal sending Wilson to Detroit was done. "It is not accurate," Dombrowski said. "I can 100 percent tell you that." One MLB official told MLB.com that the two sides are talking, but that a deal is not yet close. Source: Hot Stove Blog Dec. 4 - 1:22 pm et

"This is also a deal that there were rumors about six months ago, maybe more than a year ago."

Hell, it wasn't just rumors. The Tigers offered the Pirates Jair Jurrjens and a second player (supposedly Clevlen) and Littlefield replied that he wouldn't make a deal without Craig Monroe too, which killed it. Stone cold fact.

Even after last season, Ramon Santiago is a career .238/.310/.325 hitter in almost a thousand ML AB, and a career .247/.314/.355 hitter in almost 1200 AAA AB. Jack Wilson may not be an offensive juggernaut, but yeah, if he hits his career average (.269/.312/.375) then he's probably a significant upgrade on Ramon Santiago.

When/if healthy he's a perfectly serviceable player, he's a good fielder and as a hitter, well there's 30 MLB teams, 30 starting SS jobs, he's about the median for starting SSs- you could do a lot worse.

Looking at 2007-2008 puts him in the best possible light.

If you look at 3 years (2006-2008, minimum 900 PA), he comes in 21st out of 30 SS in OPS+.